From Staff Reports

ASHEVILLE, N.C.  — N.C. District 11 Democrats became “embroiled” in “controversy” after U.S. congressional hopeful Jamie Ager was the only candidate invited to speak at a fundraiser, which eventually resulted in a revision of the invitation to include all seven candidates to speak, the website Asheville Watchdog noted in an Aug. 13 column.

In a subhead, the website’s Tom Fiedler “politics” column stated the following position on the party’s dilemma follows:

“Candidates denounced invitation to Ager, but party should scrap its neutrality policy in primaries to win elections.”

The aforementioned turmoil followed Ager’s announcement on July 31 of his candidacy for the District 11 House seat held by U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards., R-Flat Rock.

Then, after Ager was invited to be the solo speaker at an upcoming Democratic fundraiser, Morris “Moe” Davis and several other candidates co-signed a letter written by Davis denouncing the invitation.

“Before I get into the subject of Democratic Party self-destruction in this column, let me state forcefully here that Western North Carolina politics — even in this politically charged time — isn’t anything like Medellín, Colombia in the cocaine-drenched 1990s,” Fielder wrote, in opining that local Democrats, nonetheless, face an “own goal” controversy. 

Also, Fielder quipped in his column, “Let the record show that I’m against violent politicking.”

He then quickly added, “But the phrase ‘beaten by an own goal’ has been widely repeated by local Democrats in the days since a minor decision made by an unpaid party official triggered an angry intraparty confrontation among the announced candidates hoping to unseat Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards in the state’s 11th Congressional District, which encompasses Buncombe and 15 other counties.

“What did the volunteer party official do to trigger the controversy? He offered a solo speaking slot at an upcoming fundraising dinner to just one of the five announced candidates. The speaker-to-be was Jamie Ager, CEO of Hickory Nut Gap Farm. Though a campaign rookie, Ager, 47, is a member of a politically prominent family whose roots go back four generations in Appalachian agriculture. Those roots include his grandfather and namesake Jamie Clark, who served in Congress, and his father John and brother Eric who succeeded one another in the state Assembly. 

“As Democratic candidates so often do, the aggrieved four summoned the anointed one to stand in the center of a circular firing squad (figuratively speaking), to be held hostage until the party leadership met such demands as strict neutrality, apologies for the gala-dinner snub and the resignations of some party leaders who appear friendly to Ager. (In fairness, a Medellín-style response has been avoided).  

“The four — Morris ‘Moe’ Davis, Chris Harjes, Zelda Briarwood and Paul Maddox — co-signed a protest letter written by Davis stating: 

“‘Let us be clear: It is not the role of any Democratic Party entity, whether it’s a county, district or state, to anoint a nominee before voters have had their say.  Showcasing a single candidate sends a clear and dangerous message that the primary is already decided.’”

Regarding the protest letter, Fielder opined, “That’s a fair, though debatable point, which I’ll return to later.

“After Jamie Ager, one of several Democratic candidates for U.S. House, was invited to be the keynote speaker at an upcoming party fundraiser dinner, opponent Morris ‘Moe’ Davis blasted his candidacy and the Democratic party on social media.

“But the letter was tinder to Davis, 66, a retired Air Force lawyer with a penchant for bombs-away social-media commentary, who doused the sparks with gasoline. As has been his style since unsuccessfully running for the seat in 2020 against firebrand Madison Cawthorn, Davis unleashed a fusillade of unhinged attacks on Ager (‘his only qualification for Congress is that he’s named after his grandfather who held the seat 35 years ago’); on Ager’s campaign consultant Grayson Barnette (described as a ‘young arrogant [expletive deleted], who was born with a silver spoon up his [expletive deleted]”); on Buncombe Democratic Party chairwoman Kristen Robinson (characterized as Barnette’s “side squeeze,” a crude reference to the couple’s relationship); on North Carolina Democratic Party chairwoman Anderson Clayton (for reposting Ager’s campaign video on her social media), and on all in the party leadership friendly to the Agers. (‘You can’t credibly argue for ‘No Kings’ when you crown a prince who the party anoints because of his bloodline.’)”    

Ultimately, Fielder said of the local Democrats’ turmoil in his Ashville Watchdog column the following:

“You might think that the targets of this attack would respond with a variation of ‘with-friends-like-these-who-needs-enemies.’ But no. The party leadership hoisted this white flag: ‘A misstep was made in the selection for speaker for the upcoming NC-11 gala,’ it began in reference to Ager’s selection as a keynote speaker with no mention of the others....”